I recently read through some notes I took while reading a book by John Eberhart (Bowhunting Pressured Whitetails). This quote really stuck out.

"Developing your skill in harvesting deer and enjoying the sport of bowhunting for many years will be far more rewarding than bagging that one trophy buck of a lifetime."

I've found this to be so true. Maybe because I've never harvested a really big deer (biggest might be 130 inches). I'm sure many of you are the same way.....we just treasure every aspect of whitetail deer hunting. Words just can't capture what it means to me (us).

Man, that is so true, i have only been hunting for about 8 years now, and only about 5 of that is bow hunting, i havent got a buck yet, and i havent gotten anything w a bow because i find it hard to get into the woods because im playing fall sports for school. But that is why i love hunting, becausei know when im too old, fat, and beat up to do anything else, i know i can still always just sit my butt down somewhere in the woods and hunt.

Agree 100%
I have gotten to the point where walking and looking for sign / scouting, /running trail cameras/ stand placement / food plot prep/ ect are as much a part of my season as anything and to some degree i enjoy them even more than some aspects of actually getting out there with a gun or bow. Especially the trail cameras. I will admit I am addicted to them year round.[:D]

"Go afield with a good attitude, with respect for the wildlife you hunt and for the forest and fields in which you walk. Immerse yourself in the outdoor experience. It will cleanse your soul and make you a better person." - Fred Bear

It's funny too because, for so many people I know, hunting begins and ends with killing. They believe that if they dont kill a deer, the game commission has ripped them off for the cost of the license. Hunting is so much more to me than an alternative way of grocery shopping. In terms of actual harvest, I'm probably less successful than almost any other serious hunter I know, but I still want to get out there!

Patriot, I found one thing rather interesting in your OP. You said, "...I've never harvested a really big deer (biggest might be 130 inches)..." It's kind of funny that we do not consider 130" to be big anymore. We get so saturated with "deer porn" that a really great buck does not get the credit it once would have. I mean any legal, ethical kill is a great deer and any time spent hunting is a gift, but a130"is still really special. I think you know what I mean.

I am lucky. I have stumbled into a few really nice bucks (not quite B&C, but in the ballpark). So it is a little easier for me to not apologize when I shoot something smaller. But I hate that we so often feel pressured to do so.

I have not had a season yet where I have filled all my purchased tags. To be honest I'm not a good hunter and consider myself barely past being a novice, but I take every opportunity to learn. I learn most from mistakes not my successes.

I have only taken two bucks (one shotgun and one bow) and several does (all bow). I still love it when any deer comes in sight. Don't get me wrong I still feel the adrenaline rush through my veins when I see horns, and having missed two bucks. I still get buck fever, bad, when a "shooter" comes in close. That is what keeps me coming back for more. I don't believe I have ever seen anything in the woods larger than 120". I have some on trail cams, but never actually one in the flesh.

I now get more enjoyment out of watching my son hunt and probably was more happy than he was last year when he got his first deer.

I truly love this sport. It is what keeps me going through some very mind numbing days at my real job. [;)]

Patriot, I found one thing rather interesting in your OP. You said, "...I've never harvested a really big deer (biggest might be 130 inches)..." It's kind of funny that we do not consider 130" to be big anymore. We get so saturated with "deer porn" that a really great buck does not get the credit it once would have. I mean any legal, ethical kill is a great deer and any time spent hunting is a gift, but a130"is still really special. I think you know what I mean.

I am lucky. I have stumbled into a few really nice bucks (not quite B&C, but in the ballpark). So it is a little easier for me to not apologize when I shoot something smaller. But I hate that we so often feel pressured to do so.

Great topic!

JPH,
That is so true. I'm almost to the point where I don't even want to watch hunting DVD's anymore. We become so desensitised by all the huge antlers all over the place. I had the best season of my life this year (been hunting...gulp...20 years now). I was fortunate to harvest 2 bucks that were probably 2.5 year olds. For me that is truely awesome. Then I sit down and watch a hunting DVD or even look at the cover of D&DH (the best mag in the world by the way)....and I think "maybe I should have passed"..."they're not that big"..."a real hunter would wait for a bigger one". Those are not the kind of thoughts to have. Each harvest is truely a special thing no matter how big or small, buck or doe. It's the experience that is the treasure, not the inches of horn on the head.

Not sure exactly what I'm trying to say......but I think you all get it.

My wife..says i am obsessed with hunting...and i guess there is no other way to describe it...I love all the aspects of the hunt

i love the preperation..doing the food plots, hanging stands ( well mybe not hanging stands in the middle of summer), watching the deer grow on my trail cams and i love eating venision..the mrs makes a few great dishes...venesion stromboli, tacos, stuffed peppers, jerky(my specialty), etc....

the kill is just a bonus...yeh it is exciting but only because it is my hard work that has gone into it...i have killed three nice bucks for my area of PA...but i live and could hunt in OHIO where the antler growth is fantastic...

killing a pope and young would be great but killing a doe or a buck on the land that I worked hard for and worked hard to improve is what makes deer hunting my obsession..

i would rather kill an 80 inch nine point on my property than a 140-150 on someone elses

It's the journey that counts, not the destination. I started bowhunting over a half my lifetime ago. I had no idea what I was really getting into. I thought it was a simple matter of going out in the woods and shooting a deer. Boy, was that an underestimation.

Now that I am probably on the backside of that career-- shoulder's starting to give out-- I look at what I was and what I am, and realize that bowhunting accounts for a good deal of what's made me. If nothing more than the physical reality that I eat a lot of venison.